Software & Code Citation Generator
Cite a program, app, R package, or GitHub repository in seconds. Enter the developer, name, version, publisher, and year and get a complete, formatted citation in APA, MLA, Chicago, and 10,832 styles. Free, no sign-up.
Language
How to Cite Software
- 1. Enter the program details. The developer — an individual, a team like "R Core Team", or a company — goes in the author position. Add the program name, the exact version you used (it matters for reproducibility), the publisher, the year, and the download or repository URL.
- 2. Pick a style. Choose APA, MLA, Chicago, or any of the 10,832 styles. APA adds a [Computer software] descriptor after the name and version. For a GitHub repository, use the release tag as the version; for an R package, check citation() first in case the authors prefer a journal article.
- 3. Generate. We build a full software reference. Edit any field, then copy or export it to BibTeX, RIS, CSV, or Word.
Frequently Asked Questions
- How do I generate a citation for software?
- Enter the developer (a person or a company) as the author, the program's name, the version you used, the publisher, the year, and the download or repository URL, then pick your citation style and click Generate Citation. The source type is already set to 'Software / computer program', so the fields map to the right CSL record.
- How do I cite software in APA 7th edition?
- APA lists the developer, the year in parentheses, the italicized program name with the version in parentheses and a '[Computer software]' descriptor, the publisher, and the URL — for example: R Core Team. (2025). R (Version 4.5.0) [Computer software]. R Foundation for Statistical Computing. https://www.r-project.org/
- How do I cite a GitHub repository?
- The repository owner or maintainers are the author, the repository name is the title, GitHub is the publisher, and the repository URL goes in the URL field. Use the release tag or commit you actually used as the version. If the repository ships a CITATION.cff file, prefer the author and title information given there.
- How do I cite an R package or Python library?
- Cite it like any other software: package authors, package name, version, and URL (CRAN, PyPI, or the project site). In R, running citation("packagename") prints the authors' preferred citation — often a journal article; if so, cite that article instead of the software record.
- Do I really need to cite software in a paper?
- Cite any software that materially shaped your results — analysis packages, models, specialized tools — and always cite it when the version affects reproducibility. You generally do not need to cite everyday utilities like a word processor. When in doubt, cite it: it credits the developers and lets readers reproduce your setup.
- Which citation styles does the software generator support?
- All 10,832 styles in our library, including APA 7th, MLA 9th, Chicago, Harvard, IEEE, and Vancouver. Choose your style before or after entering the program details and the reference reformats instantly. The tool is 100% free with no sign-up.